The founder of modern Czechoslovak epidemiology, Karel Raška, who contributed to the worldwide eradication of smallpox, is to receive the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, First Class, in memoriam. His son, Professor Ivan Raška, writes about his father's contributions and career.

It seems there were two, though many believe there was only one: the great temple in Jerusalem built by the Biblical King Solomon. The first temple stood on the Temple Mount but no material evidence of its existence has ever been found. However, in 2012, Israeli archaeologists unexpectedly discovered another site in some ways similar.

The Talking Economics Podcast is back, and now, for the first time, is featured at Forum. In this edition, Katarína Stehlíková talks with CERGE-EI's Filip Pertold about the Covid-hit economy and data and policies to help. “We’ve learned from the Covid-19 pandemic that data is the key,” Filip Pertold says.

Czechs last week who followed the outcome of the election at iRozhlas.cz as the results came in, benefitted from a predictive model designed by Associate Professor Marek Omelka and Ondřej Týbl from Charles University. The system they developed helped the scientists determine failry early on who had gained a majority in the lower house.

Jan Jehlička is a pioneer of the new 21st century discipline of exobiology. Together with colleagues, and using advanced devices such as Raman spectrometers, he searches for answers to questions such as: Does life exist beyond planet Earth? Did it exist in the past? Last year he won Charles University’s Donatio award.

“Genetic testing makes sense in combination with other biochemical markers and various sensors for individual training. But there is no way it should lead to conclusions such as if you don’t have a sprinter’s genes, give up running,” says Associate Professor Miroslav Petr from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports.

Turtles originated more than 200 million years ago but three-quarters of turtle species today are endangered. Jindřich Brejcha, a zoologist at the Faculty of Science, told us more about the fascinating reptile and efforts to help.  May 23 was World Turtle Day.

Stunning landscapes, diverse in languages, home to different cultural traditions: all that and more are the Caucasus bridging Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The region has long been the focus of Faculty of Arts’ Associate Professor Petra Košťálová.

“When I started, the chances of curing the most common types of paediatric leukaemia were around 20 percent – today it is up to 90 percent. Not every doctor gets to live to see that,” says Professor Jan Starý, a paediatric haematologist at Charles University’s Second Faculty of Medicine and Motol University Hospital. 

In jest, he says that a recent Amazon exhibition in Prague’s Carolinum came together only by accident, after he came across a box containing Peru’s highest state honour while cleaning up. Back in 2007, Charles University’s Bohumír Janský became the first foreigner to receive the honour.